A Welcome Death
by CarakinWonder
Summary: Ulquiorra. The Cuatro Espada in Aizen's Army. In all the world hath no one love him? How about his lone Fraccion? Through this Arrancar's troubled mind the story is told through memories and experiences.
1. Towards Death We Walk

**(Prologue)**

Towards Death We Walk

I would be ready for battle whenever I was called upon by my great Lords. I would be ready to lay down my life for them and fight our greatest enemy. Nothing could shake my resolve to defend not only my honor but the honor of all of Lord Aizen's army.

I slipped into my pure white jacket and crossed the straps that substituted for buttons tightly over my chest. I looked into the mirror and my pure jade eyes gazed solemnly back at me. "Triplatora…are you ready?" I closed my eyes at the rush of emotions that suddenly racked my body.

I collected myself and wrenched my eyelids apart. The lone horn of his broken Hollow mask jutted into the dark heavens above his head confronting my vision with a blazing image of how lonely he stood.

"I am ready, Lord Ulquiorra." I confirmed, making my countenance as unemotional as his. Ulquiorra's cerulean eyes stared at me, his expression one of such pure misery it could have ripped apart a thousand souls.

"Then let us go. Lord Aizen is waiting for his army." I nodded. Taking my sword in my hand, I followed my master to my death.


	2. Beginning of the End

_Negative chapters are part of Tripp's memory. Since a big part of the story is in what happened before Tripp became Ulquiorra's fracción it is told in flashbacks littered throughout the main story._

**(-1)**

Beginning of the End

"Lady Triplatora Gondarera?" I nodded. "You have been chosen by the Cuatro Espada Lord Ulquiorra Schiffer to be his subordinate."

My mind reeled, utterly astounded by what the Arrancar in front of me had just said. The great Lord Ulquiorra Schiffer?! The Fourth Espada?! He had chosen me? I wondered incredulously to myself.

The messenger turned to leave and told me over his shoulder, "He expects to see you at the Eleventh Hour."

I twisted around to hide my face from the retreating figure of the courier as a wave of tears ran down my face. I had waited for this. I had trained for this. I was one of Aizen's Higher Army! Not only that but I was the _fracción _of the greatest Arrancar to ever live – Ulquiorra Schiffer. "Tripp?" I raised my head at the petite voice.

Lala Lapella gazed up at me, her tiny frame keeping her from looking me in the eye, even though she had been born before me. "Are you happy now? You have what you have been striving for. You are on the front lines. You will be one of the first to die." She said, her monotone voice making her words even more direct than what they would have been. Her eerie, crimson eyes flitted back and forth, never staying still for more than a moment.

I wiped my tears from my ghostly pale face and I crouched down to her level. "This _is_ what I want. I want to fight by Lord Schiffer's side. That one goal has been my life's aim. Now I have it and you're putting a damper on my happiness. Why, Little Lala?" I questioned her, using my nickname for her that she hated so much.

She grimaced, one of the few expressions her face could make. Lala's stolid demeanor reminded me of my Lord in only that respect. "I do not see the point in _wanting _to die. Even if it is at the side of your idol." Lala said, turning away from me. "I do not see the point in fighting."

I scowled at her childish face. "You don't see the point in _anything_." I growled, standing back up.

Lala played with her white skirt, her short sword swinging at her side. "I just do not want you to die. Which is what I believe will happen to you if you accept the Cuatro Espada's invitation." Lala informed me.

I glanced down at her for a quick instant. Just long enough to see her terrified visage. Her own fear attacked me and spread throughout my veins with a strangling force. I shook my head, my long locks of ashen green hair hitting my cheeks with sharp strikes. No! This was my dream. To stand as a part of the army that would defend our great leader Lord Aizen. He had created us. It was our duty to repay him.

I snatched my lengthy sword from where it leaned against the seat I had just been occupying. My hand brushed across the book I had been reading, my fingers curling around the cover as I closed it. "Goodbye halcyon days."


	3. For We Fight For Might

**(1)**

For We Fight For Might

"I see." His eyes were still closed as he watched the orange-haired boy bow his head. "So you decided he wasn't worth killing." Lord Sosuke Aizen's words were not a question but a statement.

I watched in silence as Lord Ulquiorra slightly nodded in agreement. "Yes sir. My orders were to kill anyone who might be an obstacle to our objective. And-"

"You're soft!!" A harsh voice yelled out. My fists clenched, my skin stretching taut over my knuckles and skin turning white in my rage, as I realized who was speaking against Ulquiorra. Grimmjow Jeagerjaques. That blue-haired idiot.

"If it had been me I would have killed them all with the first strike." Grimmjow smirked, the remnant jaw from his Hollow mask grinning wildly, as he rested his chin against his hand. His henchman hovered at his elbows, ready to answer his beck and call.

"Grimmjow…" Lord Ulquiorra hissed, looking over his shoulder at him. "What _were_ you thinking? When you've got the permission to kill, you kill! Right?!" Grimmjow taunted.

"Don't question my Lord's actions!" I whispered irately. "I agree. He stood up to you. You should've killed him as a matter of course, worthy or not." Shawlong Qufang declared, his words agreeing with his leader.

Grimmjow scoffed, tossing his head around. "And look at you Yammy! You're a mess!" He laughed, bringing Yammy's lost arm to attention. "You come back telling us that he wasn't worth killing? Looks to me like you guys _couldn't _kill him!"

My whole body sprung forward, blood thirst spreading through my veins as the urge to kill Grimmjow urged me onward. A gentle hand tugged on my elbow. I looked back at the comrade tugging me back into my seat. "Don't. Even in defense of your Espada it would not end well."

I dipped my head in concurrence, knowing the Arrancar was right. I settled back into my straight back chair, and stroked the shattered remains of my Hollow mask that dominated the entire left side of my face in anticipation. A dominant habit that had been established in just the past few days.

"Grimmjow…" Yammy growled, glowering at him out the corner of his dark eye. "Didn't you see what happened? The guy in the sandals and the dark girl got me. Not that kid."

"What are you, stupid?! I would have squashed them like bugs too!" Grimmjow snapped, throwing his head back in defiance.

I bit my lip. I hated to admit it but I was in silent agreement with the blue-haired idiot. No one should be allowed to stand up to Lord Ulquiorra. "Oh yeah?!" Yammy objected, rearing back and deciding if he could take on Grimmjow with one arm.

"_Enough_." Ulquiorra sighed. He never raised his voice but that one word stopped the argument in its tracks. "Grimmjow, I don't think you understand that the boy is of no threat to us…yet."

Grimmjow, along with most of the Arrancars gathered in the chamber, cocked his head to the side in confusion. "Huh?" He snarled, aggravation flashing across his features. "Lord Aizen isn't worried about what his current abilities are. His growth rate is the problem. The boy has tremendous potential. Right now his powers are extremely unstable but I sensed that if he doesn't self destruct he might prove useful to us in the future. That is why I let him live." Ulquiorra explained his actions, squinting for a moment as flimsy strands of pain shot through his empty eye socket as his eyeball grew back.

"I still say you're soft!" Grimmjow roared. "What if you're wrong about him? What if his powers stabilize and we have to fight him?! Then what?!"

"Then I will deal with him." Ulquiorra said bluntly, turning his vacant eye towards Grimmjow, as if telling him his argument was just empty words to his ears. Grimmjow blinked rapidly in anger, at lost for a rebuttal. "Do we still have a problem?" Ulquiorra wondered causally.

"Very well." He had been silent for the entirety of the quarrel but now Lord Aizen ended the battle with two simple words. "He will be _your_ responsibility, Ulquiorra. Do as you like with the boy."

"Thank you sir." Ulquiorra bowed, his detached voice betraying a small sense of gratitude. As he turned to leave Ulquiorra caught my eye and I bowed my head in understanding.

Lifting myself from my chair I glanced down at Grimmjow on the lowest level of the conference chamber. Glaring out from behind the drooping strand of azure hair hanging in his eyes, clenching his knees in fury as the rest of us milled out, Grimmjow looked none too happy.


	4. Ready to Renounce

**(-2)**

Ready to Renounce

"I feel as if ghastly occurrences are going to come at us with forces we will not be able to handle."

My fists clenched, my knuckles turning a heated red. I breathed in deeply to keep from yelling at her and turned back to Lala. Her face was a mask of mixed trepidation and alarm. She gripped her arm, her hot pink nails cutting crescents into her soft flesh. "You shouldn't stay with _him_. He will only lead you to your grave."

_Him._ I knew exactly who the diminutive Arrancar was speaking of. Lord Ulquiorra. I shook my head and launched into my argument, "Lala. We have argued over this subject many, many times. One more try coupled with a naïve prediction will not convince me to abandon my Espada. To do so would be to rip my very soul from my body."

Lala trembled making her ash colored hair fall into her face in livid rivulets. She ground the heels of her hands into the hollow circles of her eyes. Her white bell skirt was dirtied by streaks of sweat where she had run her hands up and down the fabric in consternation of what was to come.

"Nothing is going to happen to me. I promise my Little Lala. I'm made of tougher stuff than you think and anyway, anyone who picks a fight with us will be stopped easily by the Espada. I won't ever have to raise my sword." I reassured her, patting her arm.

Looking, I noticed her eyes ringed with an irritated red, dark bags resting on the sallow skin under them. Her face was webbed with tiny, puckered scars like she had been clawing at her face again.

I hated when she looked like this. Agonized by the slight glimpses into the future that flashed through her ravaged mind. I'm not even sure it was the visions she saw but the worry that racked her entire body and mind. Despite her icy exterior towards people I knew she was one to agonize until the last moment.

Was she really going to be okay this time? No! There was no way the stolid Lala Lapella I knew would be destroyed by this. She was stronger, right?

I did want to help her. Stop the visions. Stop the worry. Stop the destruction her body and mind was going through. But I couldn't. To do such things I would have to leave Ulquiorra Schiffer. Renounce my title as the Cuatro Espada's fracción and be forever shamed with the brand of cowardice.

Not even to save my closest friend could I do such a thing.


	5. Flighting Fury

**(2)**

Flighting Fury

"You need to stay out of his way."

I studied my Lord's raven hair, his broad shoulders, his straight back, his arms ready to swing a sword for what he believed in, and his hands which were now tightened in irritated fists and asked, "Who's way?", though I already knew the answer to my inquiry though.

"Grimmjow Jeagerjaques. "Ulquiorra replied, standing as still as a statue on the other side of his private chambers. "He can be none too pleased with me after the embarrassment he just endured."

I clasped my hands behind my back, and began to tap my foot against the rough slate floor. "What does that have to do with me staying away from Lord Jeagerjaques?"

Ulquiorra turned his head so he halfway faced me as he said, "He hates to lose. And he'll want his revenge. Grimmjow cannot touch me….so his rage falls upon you."

I nodded sharply, and beat my foot against the floor even quicker. Grimmjow Jeagerjaques' insatiable anger was not an uncommon issue among the Arrancars. Destruction caused by his uncontained fury didn't just happen….it was expected.

"Grimmjow hates _everyone _around him. He will not be stopped by the fact that you are my fracción. He kills without reason, without thought. Do not take him lightly." Ulquiorra warned.

"Yes sir." I answered quickly, looking down at my lithe hands. Each of my fingers were thin and pale. Nothing like the brawny fists of the Sexta Espada.

If I was confronted by Grimmjow would I be able to hold him off? Taking him down was not a option. If I went into battle thinking I could beat him I would be dead before it ever started.

"Aizen's army needs every combatant it can get for the battle to come. You are one of those soldiers that needs to be ready for it." Ulquiorra said nonchalantly but his words made my heart soar. He counted on me and my abilities. If he believed in me I would not let him down. I would fight to the death for my master.

A quiet knock landed on the door it swung open instantly, it's massive girth clanging loudly as it crashed to a stop against the wall. In the spacious doorway the courier was dwarfed. "Lord Ulquiorra Schiffer? Lord Aizen orders an audience with you. Immediately." The messenger rattled off, looking between the two of us.

Ulquiorra curtly nodded, and spun on his heel. "Go ahead of me and inform him that I'm coming….with haste." Ulquiorra instructed the messenger.

The envoy saluted and dashed out of the door, his footsteps resounding off the walls of the lengthy hallways. Lord Schiffer turned back to me, stuffing his hands deep into his pockets. He almost looked like a child in that split second. "Watch yourself." He snapped quickly before disappearing out the door.

I bowed to Ulquiorra but he was already gone.


	6. An Encounter Not Welcome

_Please review! I don't know what came over me when I wrote this chapter…I guess late night television, Diet Mountain Dew, and tacos….It's 2 in the morning and I'm seeing blurry penguins with chocolate pudding and grenade launchers. Is that weird? Never mind. Just tell me what you think of this one, if I'm not too off the path here. *Thank you to anyone who has reviewed!*_

**(3)**

An Encounter Not Welcome

Hueco Mundo. It never changed in the realm of Hollows. There was always the same amount of darkness whether it was day or night. A cloud of black and white had seemingly descended upon everything and had held it's grip on the desert world in a death grip.

I trailed my hands along the windowsill as I peered out of Las Noches and contemplated the horizon of shifting white sand. A snake-like behemoth of a Hollow emerged out of the sand and thrashed it's head back and forth. I sighed as it's roars of rage and emptiness reached my ears.

Ah…music that resonated in my very soul.

I compelled myself to leave the window and continue down the hall, less someone chance upon me in a moment of peace. There was no rest. We were preparing for battle.

As I stalked down the hall, I could hear the usually nonexistent sounds, ones never paid attention to: the swishing of my pleated pants, the slapping of my straw sandals against the floors, the crackling of leather as the sword straps around my shoulder and my waist moved with me.

The calm disturbed me. It was never really…bustling in Las Noches but rather there was always a hum. People speaking, machines working, Hollows screaming, a wide array of sounds collecting to make the background noise I had never noticed until then.

And then I heard it. Breathing. Paced, as if someone was trying to hide their presence. My heart raced wildly, my hand went to my sword, my feet instantly fell into a stance. And then the hand landed on my shoulder.

"Hello, Cutie." The words slide through my ear, running through my skull and locking my brain on one thought.

"How pleasant to meet you here." The hiss spread it's ice cold tentacles, sliding along my neck, down my back, taking control of my limbs.

"I just love how adorable you look when you're scared. I could just lap it up." He teased me, running his sharp fingers through my short crop of hair. My brief contentment of anguished Hollow screams was shattered. "Oh sweetheart, don't enjoy my little visit? I came all this way just to see….you. " He wondered, leaning closer to my ear and running his tongue along my jaw.

I cracked the frost that held me rigid and twisted my neck to look at the Quinta Espada, Nnoitra Jiruga. "A meeting with you my Lord is always….well, vexing."

Nnoitra's sly grin spread across his face, almost encompassing all his other features. "You're welcome." He whispered, grabbing my chin in his scissor-like hands and forcing me to look at him.

His suspicious looking eyes flickered over me, resting on each part of my face for a swift second. "Are you having fun with Lord Cuatro? Wouldn't you like someone so much more worthy of your immaculate beauty?" Nnoitra demanded, leaning into me.

"Oh, Lord Jiruga?! You couldn't possibly mean yourself, could you?" I carelessly taunted him, forgetting for a moment who I was dealing with.

Nnoitra's face flashed with rage and he grabbed my wrists in a flick of movement, throwing me against the wall with a force so powerful it sent tendrils of pain down my back and cracks up the granite wall. I screamed, the throbbing ache running through my entire body and the thunderous power of the Quinta Espada's reiatsu seeping into my skeleton, ripping it apart from the inside.

Lord Jiruga pressed his face into mine, his eyes boring into mine from inches away. "I would advise you not to make anymore enemies. You've already have one Espada against you. That's already enough to kill you." Nnoitra advised.

He released me and skidded down the wall, my shirt flying up and letting the grainy wall eat into the flesh of my already sore back. Nnoitra Jiruga looked at me one more time, his eyes flashing with rage and intrigue before he marched down the hall, the tapping of his heels hitting me with a new wave of surprise at what had just happened.

My hands wrapped around my knees and hugged them to me, my tears soaking my white pants in seconds. "Lala….d-damn you….it's all c-c-coming true….you've cursed m-me." I hiccupped out past my tears.

I doubled forward, all my pain assembling in my stomach and exploding out again. My entire body shook, my vision swam, the reflective marble of the floor threw my visage back at me before I retched upon it. "What the hell?!" I bellowed.

That raw power pulsating angrily through my veins. Lord Nnoitra had done this to me without even attacking me. I would never hold up against Grimmjow Jeagerjaques . "No! No, no, no!" I bawled, pushing myself off the floor and stumbling down the hallway. I wiped my mouth on my sleeve and rubbed my cheeks against my shoulders to erase the tears.

"No weakness. No emotions. Nothing to stop me from my goal. For Lord Ulquiorra!!"


	7. A Fate Long Sealed

_Yeah! I'm back! Original computer's still screwed, hoping to get a new one soon, but for now using a school comp. This semester's gonna be tough on me so the chapter's will be few and far between…but I'm gonna work as hard as I can to get the goods out to you guys to enjoy! &_^ Thanks for all the support!_

**(-3)**

A Fate Long Sealed

The Eleventh Hour. The Eleventh Hour. The Eleventh Hour. Those three words ran through my mind. Just two more days till I officially became the fracción of Lord Ulquiorra Schiffer. My mind exploded with unbridled joy and exaltation just thinking about it. I couldn't help but skip down the hallway, not caring who saw my silly show of emotion.

"You do not care if you die do you? Not if you are with him? I do not understand Triplatora." I froze. I had not heard her voice in five days. I had thrown her out. My past no longer mattered where I was going. Not when it was dragging me back.

I turned around slowly to look at Lala. "Will you just leave me alone?" I snapped, my voice trembling along with my shoulders. I hated this. Lala was my friend…but now she had turned into my enemy.

"They will all turn on you. When you agree to stand by his side, the rest of the world will slowly begin to turn on you. So slow it will agonize your every minute. You will always be wondering when the next person will turn on you, will attack you, will grab hold of the intent in their heart that is screaming out to kill you." Lala hummed, her voice echoing on itself. It sounded as if there was a whole legion of her speaking.

She was seeing the future.

My lips trembled as I spoke, "You're starting to sound redundant, Lala. And I'm getting sick of it." I crossed my arms so she could not see them shaking like a leaf caught in an autumn gust. I turned my back on her and stalked down the hall, the sound of hard footfalls bouncing off the marble walls.

"Just wait!" Lala yelled. "You will see that I am right! When you concrete your vow to that horrid man you will set the seal on your fate! A seal made of your own blood!!"


	8. A Saturation of Hate

**(4) **

A Saturation of Hate

Something was wrong. Las Noches had never been a warm, convivial place but this feeling….I felt like a heavy load of jagged animosity was pressing down on my throat, slowly waiting as it cut off my last bit of air. Something had happened.

Trepidation spread through my every limb, pulling me back from that door, telling me to turn around and escape from the grand enmity that was spilling out and permeating the entire fortress.

My hand rested on the door's ornate handle and all my strength went out of me.

I couldn't breathe; I felt like I was being crushed by pure rage, hate and blood thirst. The reiatsu spilling from behind the door was outrageous, I had never felt someone so full of hatred and the intent to kill. Something _very_ bad had happened.

"Triplatora." A hand rested on my shoulder and delicately pulled me back just enough for my hand to fall off the door handle. The great weight that had been pressing down on me lifted and I felt a serene calmness spread through me. I turned to look behind me. "This is not a good time to be here. Grimmjow is being reprimanded." Ulquiorra informed me.

He stuffed his hands deep inside of his pockets and motioned for me to follow him down the hallway. I glanced once more back at the lofty entrance to the conference hall. Reprimanded?

"Triplatora?" I jolted, and sprinted after Ulquiorra, catching up just as he turned the corner.

"If it's not too much out of my range to know, what has Lord Grimmjow done?" I questioned, curiosity eating at me. I didn't want to know what had sparked that hate ripping to get out of that room and attack anyone it met. I _needed_ to know.

"Grimmjow…" Ulquiorra paused and glanced at me out the corner of his eye. "He went to the world of the humans with his fracción. All of them were killed but him. He went after the Soul Reaper boy. The one Aizen left under my will."

My mind reeled. "How could he?!" I yelled. "He betrayed an order from Lord Aizen! He should nev-" I gasped. What had just cut me off? A white hand caught my attention. Ulquiorra's. It was raised, just past my face. Why did my cheek sting? And it all clicked together.

He had slapped me. "Even in their worst moments you should _never_ speak ill of someone higher than you, Triplatora. Grimmjow was angry. Seething with rage. It's in his nature to act compulsively. But even so, I do not want a hear a word against him uttered by you again." Ulquiorra growled, his lovely features twisting for just a moment.

I nodded quickly. My eyes were burning with the tears I was forcing back. I could not let them spill here. "Yes, Lord Ulquiorra. Please forgive my impertinence."

Ulquiorra looked at me for a long moment, his blue eyes shimmering in the low light of Los Noches. "Lord Aizen has a meeting with me later." He said, his voice quiet.

I nodded again; glad he had abruptly cut off our prior conversation. With him, that meant it was over and done with. "Do not worry, I will have everything that needs to be done finished by the time you return." I told him, already tinkering with the schedule in my head.

"No," he said, shaking his head slightly, sending a tremor through his midnight hair. "Lord Aizen wants you to be there also. He has an important matter to discuss with you he says."

"Me?" I managed to choke out past my shock. "Yes, you. I do not know about what, but this is a great honor."

A small smile played on my lips. I couldn't hold my excitement in. "Yes. Yes it is."


	9. Over A Cup of Tea

**(5)**

Over A Cup of Tea

_Tea. _Sitting in front of me was a dainty china cup filled with a steaming pool of green _tea_. It was getting hard to hold back the laughter.

I glanced over at Lord Ulquiorra and he shrugged, picking up his own cup to gingerly sip at the scorching liquid. I tore my gaze from his profile to look back at Aizen. Then it hit me all over again. The Great Lord Sosuke Aizen, the very man who had created all of us, had requested to see _me_.

His hazel eyes were half lidded as he looked back at me, a strand of his chocolate hair falling into his face, his ashen skin made only more paler by the bleached robes he wore. "Triplatora Gondarera." Aizen finally spoke, his voice barely over a whisper.

"Yes sir?" I immediately answered.

The corners of his mouth twitched, as if they were trying to keep his lips from forming a smile, and Aizen rested his eyes on me. "Something very important is about to happen."

I nodded. "Of course. A war with the Soul Reapers. It's inevitable." I answered, my voice dropping for a second as I thought about who else might end up dead.

"You're sharp, Triplatora." Aizen complimented, before taking a drink of his tea. "But before that war happens, we have a necessary move to make."

My head tilted to the side, like it always did when I was confused, before I quickly corrected it. "What do you mean, Lord Aizen?" I wondered, my tone careful.

Aizen leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and steeping his fingers. "There is an essential part of the Soul Reaper's infantry that we must commandeer for our own use." Aizen told me. "Without it they will be helpless on a very important side and we will have a very powerful component that we haven't previously held."

"So…what is this 'essential part'?" I questioned, thoroughly baffled. Maybe if Lord Aizen didn't talk so cryptically I would have had a better chance of understanding what he was trying to tell me. "What is this 'powerful component' that we seem to need so badly?"

Aizen finally smiled, a crooked grin that chilled my very bones. "Orihime Inoue." I couldn't help but let my head droop to the side in question. "This _thing _we need is really a…person? What kind of person could be so important?"

"Orihime Inoue is no normal person." Ulquiorra commented. I looked over at him as he continued to speak. "She's the woman from the human world. The one who was at the first meeting with Kurosaki. The redheaded healer."

I tore my gaze from him and addressed Aizen. "This incredible thing that we need is not only a person but a…_human_?" I gasped, not able to comprehend what he was saying. Aizen nodded. My jaw dropped. "But…but…what?!"

I felt a pressure pressing down on my shoulder. I glanced back and Ulquiorra's hand was clutching my arm, his fingers digging into the cloth of uniform. His eyes flashed and I choked on my next words. "But, Lord Aizen. What does that have to do with me? Am I retrieving this human?"

Aizen looked between me and Ulquiorra for a moment, then shook his head. "No, no. That would be Ulquiorra's job. Orihime Inoue's capture is already all planned out, all the pieces set into their places. Your job is something much more important."

Ulquiorra's hand suddenly slackened and fell from my shoulder. It took all of my self-control to keep from looking back at him to see what was wrong. I kept staring at Lord Aizen, concentrating my entire will on keeping my gaze on him. Another grin flashed across Aizen's face as he watched me. "After Ulquiorra collects Orihime Inoue for us, the Soul Reapers, at least Ichigo Kurosaki, will attempt and most likely succeed in traveling here to Hueco Mundo and to our fortress. When that time comes you will have a very important task to accomplish...should the situation arise." Aizen informed me.

"What job is that?" I questioned, my voice quiet.

A long silence fell over us, one that seemed to muffle our ears and block out every sound. A silence that froze your soul and made it want to cry out for someone to just _scream_. It made you long for all of those annoying sounds you usually hate and wish to go away. And then suddenly it was broken.

"To kill Orihime Inoue if Ulquiorra should ever die."

I jumped up, my chair clattering to the floor as it was knocked over by the force of me rising. "What are talking about?! Lord Ulquiorra dying?! How could you suggest that such a thing would ever happen?! If that could happen in this war why are we even fighting these people?! If Lord Ulquiorra could fall at the hands of those worthless Soul Reapers and their human companions we'll all surely die! Are you leading us into a battle that we cannot win? What are you doi-"

Why was my face hot? It was searing. And wet. What had just happened? I blinked and looked around. Ulquiorra looked…peeved to say the least. And Lord Aizen…was holding a tea cup in his hand. That was it. He had thrown tea on me.

All the energy left my body as I realized what I had just done. I had just _yelled_ at the High Lord of the Arrancars. "Ulquiorra?" Aizen said. "Would you leave us for a moment?"

A shiver ran through my entire body despite the scalding liquid covering me. Ulquiorra nodded curtly and rose to leave. As he walked past me, his hand alighted on the back of my shoulder and I was attacked by a wave of angry reiatsu, just enough to steal my breath. The doors slammed closed behind Ulquiorra and I was trapped with someone who could kill me without even having to think about it.

"L-Lord A-Aizen…I'm s-so sorry. I d-didn't mean to. It was jus-"

"You love him don't you?" My throat closed around my next sentence. "Wh-What?" I managed to squeak out.

"Ulquiorra." Aizen said, waving his hand toward the door. "You love Ulquiorra don't you?" I stumbled backwards and found the other chair. "N-No. No…I don't. That would be irrational. I don't love him. There's a war coming. There's no time for such things like that."

Aizen crossed his arms and peered at me. "Why are you denying it so hard? You look towards him for all things. You're highly perceptive to his feelings. And you talked back to me because you were overcome by sheer worry and fear for him. It's hard to deny when you act in such a way."

"Lord Aizen…if it's not pushing my luck by talking back to you yet again," I said, looking down at my stained clothes. "I would just like to say that it would be absolutely…um…insane for me to love Lord Ulquiorra. I'm his fracción. I have to have a dispassionate view of him, and all of my other comrades, so that I may uphold my duties toward you, my Lord. So, I'm telling you again, I do _not_ love my Espada." I told him, my eyes looking at him with a solid conviction.

Aizen looked back at me, his eyes split by a strand of hair. "Of course, Triplatora. A very good answer from a incredibly loyal fracción. Ulquiorra is…lucky to have you." Aizen stood up and walked around the table to stand next to me. I stared up at him from my chair, as an awful miasma permeated my entire body. "But what we spoke of before your…outburst. You can do that can't you? It's as you said. Dispassionate in the face of your duties to me, right?"

I nodded swiftly, my neck wrenching in pain as I moved it through the thick reiatsu surrounding me. "Of course, my Lord. Anything you wish."

Aizen smirked and patted the top of my head, sending another wave of reiatsu through me each time. "Then if that's all settled, you may go."

I mechanically lifted myself from my seat and left the room, letting the door thud close behind me. I leaned back against the marble and sucked in a deep breath. It was terrifying the monsters I was dealing with.


	10. Mark My Mission

**(6)**

Mark My Mission

"Lord Ulquiorra, is there anything you would like me to do while you are gone?" I questioned, as my eyes darted around, looking at the occupants of the room.

Yammi Rialgo, Wonderweiss Margera, and Luppi, the new Sexta Espada. I could even see the top of the number six tattooed onto his hip. It even seemed like he was flaunting it. Which was no surprise. Luppi was always on a quest for more power. His dream has always been to enter the Espada, and to be ahead of all of his comrades.

As my gaze slide over him, Luppi's steel gray eyes caught mine. My own emerald eyes turned into a slits as I glared at him, but he just smiled and winked at me.

Ulquiorra nodded curtly, following my eyes. "Orihime Inoue will need somewhere to stay. One of the Block C prison cells would be the most likely. Lord Aizen wants her to be comfortable, to not feel as if she is our prisoner. That she is…" Ulquiorra's voice hitched for just a moment. "…one of us. But we still do not want her to be wandering the halls of Las Noches."

I turned from studying the Arrancars and looked at him. He was staring down at the floor, his eyes following the paths of the gray veins in the white marble. "Yes sir. Is there anything else?"

"She will need a uniform." Ulquiorra finished, finally looking up at me. "To further the idea that this human is one of us."

"Of course, Lord Ulquiorra. Everything will be ready when you return." I reassured him, as my hand went up to the fragment of my mask on the side of my face. I begun to stroke the white bone, and then suddenly…as if something had burned me, I dropped my hand from my Hollow mask.

Why was my nervous habit flaring up now? Why should I be nervous? I shook my head, and tucked my hand into the folds of my colorless shiha-kusho.

"Good. I believe the time has come for us to leave." He informed me, motioning to the other Arrancars. Yammi nodded, a wide grin spreading across his russet face. Luppi acted nonchalant but the excitement flared out of his eyes like a raging fire. Even Wonderweiss looked unnaturally serious.

"May your mission go well, sir." I said, bowing to him before I left.

As I turned I saw Ulquiorra flick his wrist to open the Garganta, and I could feel the pressure created by the rip between the worlds pressing down on my back as I walked away. I turned the corner, thinking of who I would need to see to fulfill Lord Ulquiorra's orders when a flash of blue dashed across my field of vision. I spun around, and before I could think I called out, "Lord Grimmjow."

The blue-haired Ex-Espada stopped and I could see the angry red burns on his back where his tattoo had been seared away. He turned around slowly, and the puckered skin around the slash from the Soul Reaper's sword screamed out at me. But…those injuries were nothing to the empty space where his left arm used to be.

It took all of my self control to hold back a shiver that threatened to run through my entire body. I had no idea this was the extent of what they had done to Grimmjow. This was horrid. This way he would have to suffer through the embarrassment of being knocked down from his high rank and watch as his comrades continued to fight for Lord Aizen….while he himself could do nothing.

"Yes, Lady Gondarera?" He answered, his eyes staring blankly past me.

"What are you…" I stopped. Of course. He was no longer my superior. Our positions were changed. I was now above him in Lord Aizen's army.

"Nothing….Lord Grimmjow." I said with a sad smile. I just couldn't bring myself to think of him as anything but the Sexta Espada I had always known. "I'm sorry to bother you."

Grimmjow sneered, and walked away, his feet pounding against the floor.

* * *

I smoothed the swath of white fabric out on the table and smiled despite myself. For a creature geared for battle I had the mundane ability of being able to sew. And well if I could say so myself. "This human better appreciate these clothes." I grumbled, stretching my arms out.

It seemed I had been making Orihime Inoue's uniform for hours, from how much the pale moon had moved across the ever dark sky. I folded the shiha-kusho and sat it on top of the table for when the human arrived and turned to leave the room. "So this is where she'll stay."

I jerked back. Those peering eyes staring out from behind spectacles. That grace and ease of which he held himself, as if he owned all he saw. That bubblegum hair. Szayeal Aporro Granz. "I just can't wait for her to arrive, can you Triplatora?"

All my words caught in my throat, and fear held me in iron grip. Why did it have to be him? From the day I had been born, I had always been petrified by the Octava Espada. I didn't know what it was that made me so terrified. Maybe the serpentine like way he held himself. Maybe it was the eyes that always seemed to look at you like you were just another test subject. Or maybe it was the fact that he was intent on dissecting me one day.

I stepped back, and slammed against a marble wall. I wondered how thick it was. I would knock it down to get out there. "H-H-Hello, L-Lord S-S-Szayeal." I stuttered out past the block of fear in my throat.

"Yes, hello Triplatora. It's always a pleasure to see you." Szayeal smirked, clearly enjoying my terror. "You didn't answer my question. Aren't you excited for our new guest?"

"If it is Lord Aizen's wish for her to be here, I am delighted." I told him, my fingers clawing at the wall behind me. I had to get out of there. I would scream from the icy dread that wrapped it's sharp tendrils around my heart.

"You're quite an exceptional soldier. You would let your own emotions fall by the wayside for your master's wishes." Szayeal commented, walking slowly towards me.

"What do you mean? My own emotions have nothing to do with this." I told him sharply, feeling more confident in that second than I should have in his presence.

"Oh, you can't fool me Triplatora. You know what this means for your Espada. Never more shall he be yours and only yours. He will be consumed by his duty to watch this human. He will be _hers_." He said, turning his spectacled eyes toward me. I could see the pink irises just under the glare from the low lights.

I shook my head but I could feel his words resonate within my heart. They kept repeating over and over in my head. _He will be hers. He will be hers. He will be hers. HE. WILL. BE. HERS. _My hand flew to my chest as I felt as a searing pain spread throughout it. What was this? I was breathing heavy. Sweat was dripping from my brow. Why did I feel like I was being burned alive…from the inside?

"It's funny." Szayeal chuckled, as he watched my ordeal. "You're heart is breaking when you don't even have one." He threw back his head and laughed. A maniacal laughter that sent a shiver through me despite the fever that wracked my body.

I fell to my knees and clawed at my chest, wishing it could crack it open and pour out this scorching agony. Szayeal was still giggling as he walked up to me and crouched in front of me. "It's okay, Triplatora." Szayeal grinned evilly. "Maybe I could figure out how to stop this. Would you allow me?"

Why was giving me a choice? He didn't ask his victims if they wanted to be cut open. I felt my head shake. "No. You are _not_ dissecting me." I sucked in a deep breath, and willed myself to stop this. There was no reason for my "heart to break" if what Lord Szayeal said was true.

Suddenly the pain subsided, slowly leaving my body as if someone had opened a faucet and it was all draining out. I wiped the sweat from my eyes, and lifted myself off the floor. "Thank you for your offer, Lord Szayeal. But I just don't think I could leave my Espada."

Szayeal looked up at me for a second and then straightened. "One day, Triplatora. One day. You'll be my test subject. I'll dissect you, and study you, and replicate what you can do. One day, I'll see why you're allowed to live." Szayeal said, as he turned to leave the room.

He reached the door, and without looking at me, he said. "By the way, you did well on the human's uniform."


	11. Shivering Phantasma

(-4)

Shivering Phantasma

I could remember it like it had just happened yesterday. The fateful day when…from nothing but intangible thoughts and feelings…I was born for Lord Aizen's use.

* * *

It was cold. A chill that seemed to permeate through my naked skin, seeping into my bones, curling its icy fingers around my very soul. I curled my knees up against myself, my fingers digging into my bare skin as I clutched them close against my chest.

It was dark. I squinted my eyes willing myself to see something in the gloom that surrounded me. Nothing. But I couldn't shake the feeling that something was out there watching me.

It was silent. I couldn't hear a sound. Not an echo, not a footstep, not even a sigh. It was horribly unnerving to be in such a soundless place.

"Hello." My head jerked up, trying to find the voice that had suddenly emerged from the shadows. A brown haired man in a solid white uniform. He reached out a hand to me, and smiled. "Welcome to your home, Arrancar."

I stared up at him and felt something radiate through me. I didn't like his smile. It was fake. A strained farce put up so that I would fall into trusting him with my life when he would never care what happened to it. "Your brothers and sisters are delighted to have a new sibling."

The man spread his arm about the room, and the lights went up, showing at least a dozen other people, all dressed in pallid clothes. Someone came up behind me and laid a blanket over my shoulders. I was grateful, I felt so exposed in front of all these people.

"What is your name?" He continued, walking towards me.

"Triplatora Gondarera." I said confidently, feeling the name tumble into my head and instantly knowing it was mine.

"A beautiful name." The man said, that false smile sliding back onto his face. "Well, Triplatora, as I said before, this is your home. These are you comrades. And I…" He said, his hand alighting to his breast. "am, Sosuke Aizen, the master of this realm. Will you join me and your siblings and be a part of our army?"

I glanced around at the peering faces of the other people in the room. I looked at each face for a long moment. Blond hair, blue hair, black hair, brown hair, pink hair. Black eyes, green eyes, blue eyes, pink eyes, yellow eyes. Caramel skin, tan skin, pale skin, pure-white skin. All shapes and sizes were the people who made up the group the man called my siblings. Could we all really be a family?

No, we weren't a family. We were an infantry. I glanced back over them, and suddenly I caught on one man's face. The raven hair, the cerulean eyes, the emerald tear marks. I couldn't stop staring at him.

Before I could stop myself I heard my voice say, "Of course. I will join you." I never once looked back at Sosuke Aizen, I kept looking at the man in the crowd above us. "Good." Aizen said, and from the corner of my eye I watched as he followed my gaze.

I turned to him, as he looked down at me, curled on the floor. He smiled again, but this time it was real. But this real was not a delighted, happy real. It was a maniacal, scheming real.

"Wait." A voice rang out. "She has a heartbeat."

"Of course she has a heartbeat. She's _alive_. For someone so smart, you're kinda dumb aren't ya Szayeal?" Another voice chortled.

The air seemed to ripple, and a pink haired figure was suddenly in front of me, peering at me from behind his glasses. I scuttled back quickly in fright. "Look." The man called Szayeal called back to the crowd of people. He stalked towards me and pulled back the blanket.

"She doesn't have a heart. Where her Hollow Hole is, is where her heart should be. She shouldn't be sitting here perfectly alive, and she certainly shouldn't have such a strong heartbeat." Szayeal explained to them, pulling me off the floor and tugging me towards Aizen.

Aizen stared at me, genuinely intrigued by what this bespectacled man was proposing. "Interesting." He breathed.

Szayeal beamed. "So…I can have her?" He asked, almost sounding like a child asking if they could have a new toy.

"H-Have me?" I growled, ripping the blanket I was wrapped up in from his grasp. I didn't like this man and the way he spoke of me like a piece of property that could be bought.

Aizen focused on me, and walked up to me. He pulled the blanket back from my chest and examined the hole that gaped straight through me on the left side. "Quite a conundrum. I would love the know how she is allowed to live." He looked back up at me, his chocolates eyes boring into mine. "You can have her, Szayeal."

"Stop!"

All three of us turned at the voice, and my heart skipped a beat. I thought about that a second. Maybe this pink haired man had it right, I had no heart but I could distinctly feel something inside me beating at a constant rhythm. I shook my head and turned back to the one who had spoken.

It had been him that had spoken for me. The raven haired man who had caught my attention.

"Lord Aizen, if I may speak, I think she has a potential yet unknown. She would be a valuable asset to your army, but if you would like to squander that on a endeavor to see what 'makes her tick' I would not speak against you." He told Aizen, his voice sounding like something inside him was breaking over and over again. Something that would be forever torn apart, with no hope of ever being healed. It was so…sad.

Aizen's cold stare studied the man, and then turned to Szayeal and then looked at me, shivering from the cold that seeped through the thin blanket. "Fine. She can be a soldier. But if she does not show her worth in due time she will be Szayeal's next experiment." He glared at me as he spoke, and I could feel each of his words, imbued with an unnatural power, rock into my core and rattle it around.

He dropped the blanket from his hand, and I stepped back. Szayeal's eyes were fixated upon me, and if looks could kill I would be quite dead. All his rage and fury was channeled into his eyes as his withering scowl gouged into me. "One day…" Szayeal whispered, and I felt those two words tattoo themselves onto my soul, my heart, my essence. "One day you'll be mine to dissect, to study, to figure out everything about you."

He turned on his heel and disappeared in the gloom. Aizen was walking to a throne carved in the gray stone that made up the walls of the room. All the others in the room were filling out of doors and I was left standing in the middle of a cavernous space.

I felt like I wanted to cry. It was my first day alive and already things seemed to be going down a dangerous slope. If this was the mark for the rest of my life I didn't know if I wanted to live it.

"Come with me." A hand grabbed my elbow, and pulled me after it. "Let us get you some clothes."

I looked down at the owner of the clipped voice. A small, white haired girl was leading me along like a weathered mother. She glanced up at me, and her red eyes and straight mouth attempted a smile. It looked like she didn't have much practice at it. "Welcome to Las Noches, sister. I am Lala Lapella."

"I'm Tripla-"

"I know who you are. I was just there. I watched you as you were born." Lala grumbled, as we turned a corner. "Do not think much of what Lord Granz said. He would like to study everything in this realm and all the others."

We turned another corner and then reached a heavy marble door, that Lala pushed open with ease. "Is he a scientist?" I asked.

Lala nodded. "Of sorts. Lord Szayeal Aporro Granz is the closest thing to a scientist we Arrancars under Lord Aizen have." She rustled through piles of pallid clothes, as she spoke.

"Sosuke Aizen. What of him?" I wondered, going to her side.

"Lord Aizen is the master of Hueco Mundo, the realm of Hollows. He made all of us Arrancars who live here in Las Noches." Lala said, going to another shelf. She looked back at me for a second and then went back to her sifting.

"Made us? What do you mean?" I kept questioning her. But it seemed I had a lot to learn.

"It is a complicated process that I do not fully understand myself. You would have better luck asking Lord Granz." Lala told me, pulling out a article of white clothing.

I shivered. "I would rather not ever have to talk to him again."

"Understandable." She grimaced. "Here, try these on."

I plucked the pale attire from the air and pulled the clothes on. The pleated white pants fit snuggly against my legs, the white shirt warmed my shivering skin, and as I buckled the straps across my chest a calmness washed over me. These clothes felt like a second skin. I smiled and turned to Lala. "And what of that raven haired Arrancar?" I questioned.

"Lord Ulquiorra Schiffer." Lala said, leaving the room with me following close behind. "One of the strongest in Lord Aizen's army. An unemotional man dedicated solely to his duty as a soldier in Lord Aizen's battalion."

She stopped suddenly and turned back to me. "Do not get involved with him. Such would be your death." Lala intoned, her voice humming and her eyes glazing over.

"Lala?" I said, touching her shoulder carefully. She blinked rapidly and she focused back on me. "What was that?" I almost screeched.

Lala attempted to smile at me again. "Nothing. I am sure it is nothing you will ever have to worry about."


	12. The Arrival and The Death

_Hey guys! Sorry this took so long! I've been kinda sick and busy with finals all at the same time! Updates should be at least slightly faster since we changed classes. At least they will until my sports season starts. So now I'm gonna hush and let you enjoy! _

(7)

The Arrival and The Death

"Welcome….to Las Noches…our palace."

Lord Aizen's clear voice projected from where he sat high atop his throne and echoed in the vast room.

The brunette human looked up at him, fear spread plainly across her timid features. Her brown eyes silently pleaded for someone to get her out of this land of Hollows, this land without color, this land of her enemies.

Lord Aizen set his elbow against the arm of his stone chair and rested his chin on his knuckles. "Orihime Inoue. That's your name, isn't it?" He questioned the girl.

"Yes." She said, her voice barely a whisper.

A vicious smile spread across Aizen's face, and slowly he said, "I'm sorry to rush you, but…Orihime…will you show me that power of yours?"

The human's whole body began to shake as she looked up at Aizen. It took me a moment to notice it, but a violent reiatsu had filled the room, directed at Orihime Inoue. It was nothing that would bother the Arrancars on the floor around her, or even me high up in the scaffold on the same level as Lord Aizen, but to this young human…it was devastating.

"Y-Yes." The girl finally stuttered in return.

Aizen slightly tipped his head in a nod. "There are a few here who aren't completely convinced of the value of your powers. Isn't that right…Luppi?"

Luppi turned his bandaged and still slightly frosted face up to glare at Aizen. "That's right." He growled. " Our battle was just a diversion to get one stupid girl? How could she be worth it?"

Lord Aizen chuckled. "I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd get injured so severely."

I glanced down at the ice covered clothes and frost bitten hair that Luppi carried as a reminder of his battle with the Tenth Captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. I chuckled. Luppi, as proud as he was, probably hadn't expected his wounds either.

"Ahh, what if…" The playful glint in Aizen's eyes and the expectant tone in his voice made him almost seem like a young boy waiting for a treat. "Orihime, would you demonstrate your powers by healing Grimmjow's left arm?"

A sharp laugh escaped Luppi's throat and yelled out, "Yeah, right!! That's crazy, Lord Aizen!! Grimmjow's arm?! It's gone! Lord Tosen chopped it off! How can you heal something that's gone?! She's not a god!!"

Orihime held her trembling hands out and whispered so low it was barely even perceptible to Arrancar ears, "Sôten Kishun."

An long transparent orange half circle spread over the empty space where Grimmjow's arm should have been. "I…I reject." Orihime finished her incantation.

"Hey! Do you hear what I said, girl?!" Luppi screamed, his face distorting into a mask of rage and…almost apprehension. "If you're trying to save your life with this stupid show, _don't_!! If it doesn't work, I'll kill you!! If your powers are bogus then there's no reason to keep…you…alive…" Luppi trailed off as he and the rest of us gathered in the room watched as Grimmjow's arm begin to reform.

First bone, then the ligaments, then the muscles and tissue, and finally the skin curled over the new arm.

"Wha…" Luppi gasped, pointing at the miracle connected to Grimmjow's left shoulder.

Slowly Grimmjow lifted his arm. He stared at it a long moment as if he couldn't believe it himself.

"H-How?!" Luppi yelled out. "This goes way beyond healing!! What did you do, girl?!"

"Good question." Aizen said. His voice was quiet but it cut through the excitement and bewilderment. I instantly tore my mystified gaze from Luppi and Grimmjow's newly formed arm. "Ulquiorra believes it's a form of temporal or spatial regression." Aizen explained, turning to my Espada.

Ulquiorra nodded. "Yes, my Lord."

"N-No way. How could a human possess such a power?" Luppi wildly shook his head, his eyes wide open in confusion and disbelief. "It's impossible!"

"Indeed. It's neither of the things Ulquiorra believes it to be." Aizen said, turning his gaze to look straight down at Orihime, his chocolate eyes turning cold. "It is a rejection of phenomena."

Luppi stepped backwards. "A what?!" He gasped, his breathing shallow.

"Her powers limit, reject, and deny all phenomena that have affected her subject." Lord Aizen began, delving into a explanation of Orihime Inoue's incredible power. "She can make it as if the damage never happened. This is far more than temporal or spatial regression. In fact, it oversteps the limitations set by the gods. Her powers violate divine law."

Luppi turned around and looked at Orihime for the first time since they had returned to Las Noches. Grimmjow walked forward, twisting his wrist around. "Hey…girl. Heal one more thing for me." He ordered, gesturing with his thumb to his back.

Orihime padded around to Grimmjow's back, her loafers making a soft scuffling sound on the stone floors. Luppi eyes followed her as she whispered her incantation again, and the orange entity appeared in the air around the burn mark above Grimmjow's right hip.

As the seared flesh disappeared the black tattoo of a 6 emerged, Luppi's eyes slowly turned into sharp slits. "What do you think you're doing, Grimmjow?" He growled.

Grimmjow looked over his shoulder at his comrade. "Huh?" He smirked menacingly, the killing intent returning to his sky blue eyes.

It all happened in slow motion. I saw Grimmjow spin around, and disappear from where he stood to appear in front of Luppi, his hand piercing through Luppi's chest and his bloody hand emerging from his back. "G…Grimmjow…you…" Luppi choked out, as he coughed up blood.

"Just this. Bye bye…Number Six." Grimmjow laughed, as he positioned his left hand in front of Luppi's face. The red cero that formed from his hand ran the entire length of the room bouncing off the unnatural stone that made up the fortress of Las Noches.

Grimmjow stepped back from the destruction. All that was left of Luppi, was the bottom half of his body, which stayed standing for a long moment before it crashed to the floor and crumbled into dust.

It started off low, and then suddenly with a roar, Grimmjow's maniacal laughter exploded from him and filled the entire room. "It's back!" He bellowed. "My powers are back!! I am the Sexta. The Sexta Espada, Grimmjow Jeagerjaques!!."

All of the Arrancars on the floor just looked at Grimmjow like he was merely a nuisance, but Orihime Inoue's entire frame was racked with shivers. Her eyes were wide and sweat beaded on her forehead. If she was bothered this much from Grimmjow's display of power….well, she wasn't going to last long here in Las Noches.


	13. Just Not Getting Along

(8)

**Just Not Getting Along**

Something was going to happen. As I walked down the hallway this was all I could think about. That something was going to happen at any moment. And I was probably right.

We had a prisoner of war. That orange-headed Soul Reaper wasn't going to easily forget about her. He had what he thought was _honor_.

I continued down the hall toward Inoue's room, a scowl plastered onto my face. I was angry. I didn't like this human. I had known I wouldn't like her but…I didn't think I would hate her so much. But my feeling didn't matter. We were enemies.

As I reached the door, I was bombarded by a feeling of extreme power laced with a mix of bottomless dread. My foot paused in mid-air, the book in my hand slipped from my fingers and crashed to floor, and I stumbled forward.

They were here. I rested my forehead on the door for a long moment as I composed myself. There were three of them. A Soul Reaper…..and…a Quincy? I grasped at the word, knowing the meaning but unable to match it to any picture in my head. And that last one? What was he? He had the same feeling that Orihime Inoue had. It was like they were made from the same fold.

I ripped the door of the cell open, and stalked in. Orihime was sitting on the floor, her legs folded underneath her, her brunette head resting in her thin fingers. She didn't turn at my entrance, she didn't even twitch.

"Inoue." I coughed. She looked up slowly, as if she was moving through water. "Y-Yes?" She stammered out.

"They're going to die. You know that right?" I told her bluntly. "Lord Ulquiorra will not be defeated. Nor shall any of the other Espada. The lowest of our numbers will not be harmed by your friends futile attempts to rescue you."

Orihime's brown eyes stared up at me. They glistened with tears that she refused to let fall. I walked up to her, stopping just in front of her. "I don't see why they should care so much about you. You're just a pathetic, worthless human. Why should they waste their energy on _you_?"

Orihime stared up at me and carefully whispered, "Because…they are my….friends."

Her words snapped something inside of me. I lashed out. I only slapped her but she skidded across the rug. My hand sizzled with a residue of angry power.

"Shut up!" I yelled at her. "Are you stupid? Just because you can recite pretty words you think they actually mean anything?!"

The tears begin the pour from Orihime's eyes as she cradled her florid cheek in the palm of her hand. "Do _you_ not understand the meaning of the word friend?" She asked me, her eyes strong despite the tears.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" I demanded, my voice getting increasingly louder.

"They're the people you hold in your heart. They're the ones you would do absolutely anything for. Don't you have anyone like that?" Orihime said, bringing her hands to rest on the left of her chest.

My next scream stopped in my throat. Someone…I would do….anything for? Lord Ulq-

"Triplatora?" I spun around to see Lord Ulquiorra standing in the doorway, framed by the light falling into the room from the corridor. My back straightened up like a rod had been thrust through my spine. "Yes, my Lord?" I questioned as I bowed sharply.

"Lord Aizen has called a meeting of the Espada. I need you to tell you of a few things you need to do before I join them. Come." He commanded, as he turned on his heel and left the room.

I scurried after him, slamming the door to Inoue's cell behind me. "What did you need for me to do, Lord Ulquiorra?" I inquired, as I caught up to him.

"Stay away from Orihime Inoue." He said, never once looking at me.

"What do you mean?" I wondered. Ulquiorra shook his head, his black hair slapping his white cheeks. "You know what I mean, Triplatora. Do not go back to her room. You hate her with all your heart and that hatred could lead you to do something you might regret later. Lord Aizen will not be happy if you injure her."

I opened my mouth, and then clamped my lips together. I nodded. He was right. Emotions lead to hasty actions. I abhorred our prisoner but I could not let the feeling raging inside of me to let me kill her like I wanted to.


	14. Incredible Information

_So this chapter has a lot of stuff you'll already know from Chapter 248 from Volume 28. I pretty much used exactly what Nnoitra and Ulquiorra say to each other. There's some commentary from Tripp throughout that converstation. I've put some of the original conversations in earlier chapters too but this one is a lot wordier. But if you think next time I should find a way around the big convos, just drop me a line, kay?_

**(9) **

Incredible Information

There was nothing to do. Absolutely nothing. All I could do was walk among the stark white hallways. I passed windows quickly so I wouldn't be tempted to stop and listen to the pain filled cries of distant Hollows. Not when an enemy was perched just outside our doorstep.

"Another two have arrived."

I heard the quiet, breathy voice directly behind me but I wasn't afraid. The owner of the voice was oddly kind despite her ferocious appearance. I turned around and bowed to Lady Tia Halibel. "What do you mean two more have arrived?" I wondered, as I straightened back up.

"Enemies." She said sharply. Halibel wasn't much of a talker and whenever she did her words were as few as she could manage.

"Who are they?" I inquired further. She turned towards the long slit in the wall that offered a minute view of the landscape outside. Her shaggy blonde bangs hid her eyes from my view while her high-collared jacket covered the rest of her face. "Soul Reapers." She informed me.

I wondered why I hadn't felt them invade our realm. I had clearly felt the orange-haired idiot and his comrades. Maybe these new opponents were smarter, cleverer, stronger. I shook my head. No one could be stronger than that disillusioned Soul Reaper with the bright hair.

I had to admit he had much power…but it still wasn't enough to defeat us. "What should I do Lady Halibel?"

"Report." She said, looking back at me. Her icy green eyes looked over me and she nodded. "Report to your Espada."

Halibel pivoted on her heel and strolled away from me, her crisp white pants swishing back and forth around her hips. I watched her until she had turned the corner and then went to go find Lord Ulquiorra.

A tall Arrancar walked down the hall towards me and I grabbed him by his elbow. He stopped and looked at me, his face angry before he realized who I was. "Lady Gondarera. How may I help you?"

"Have you seen Lord Ulquiorra Schiffer?" I questioned him, dropping my hand from his arm. He nodded. He pointed down the hall and said, "I just saw him go into the prisoner's room."

"Thank you." I said, dipping my head in appreciation. "You are very welcome, Lady Gondarera." The Arrancar said with a quick bow.

It wasn't long before I arrived at Inoue's room. It hadn't been far from where I had questioned the Arrancar but it wasn't far from much of anything. Lord Aizen had placed Orihime Inoue's room directly in the middle of the palace so that not only could it be easily accessed from anywhere in the castle but so it would be much harder to escape.

I reached for the handle but stopped when I heard Lord Ulquiorra's voice drifting through the door. Surprised I stopped to listen to what he was saying. "Yes. But that should mean nothing to you. You are in body and spirit one of us now." Lord Ulquiorra paused. "That is what the garment you are wearing signifies Orihime Inoue."

"Yes." I barely heard Inoue's whisper. "Say it." Ulquiorra ordered. "Your body and spirit… What are they for?"

"Yes." Inoue repeated. "They are for Lord Aizen…and his heart."

I heard light footsteps coming towards the door. I backed out of the hallway quickly, skidding around the corner before Lord Ulquiorra could catch me eavesdropping.

Thin fingers wrapped around my wrist and I collided with someone's chest. "Hello again, Tripp." That slimy voice crawled it's way through my ears again. I jerked my head up and found myself looking into the cold, eyes of Nnoitra. "How have you been since our last…meeting?" He giggled coldly.

I bit my lip to keep a million words of rage inside of me. "I would love to take the time to tease you but I have another victim to bother." He said, dropping my wrist and going around the corner.

"How did it go? How's our little pet doing?" I heard Nnoitra's loud and obnoxious voice yell out. "Nnoitra." Was all Ulquiorra said in acknowledgement. I peered around the corner. Nnoitra was leaning against one of the walls, as Ulquiorra stayed where he was, in a position to walk away.

"I know all about it. Lord Aizen put you in charge of her. How delicious." Nnoitra said, licking his slim lips. "So? How's the discipline going?"

Ulquiorra shook his head. "Jackal." He snarled, breaking out of his stance and beginning to walk away.

Nnoitra disappeared in a flash and slammed into view in front of Ulquiorra, slapping his palm against the wall. I jumped out of my hiding place and fell into a fighting stance. I wasn't going to allow Nnoitra to attack my Lord. Not that Nnoitra would hurt him, he wouldn't even get the chance while I was here.

"Don't be angry." Nnoitra sighed, towered feet over Ulquiorra. "I just want to know if everything's going well. Is it?"

Lord Ulquiorra tilted his head up to glare at Nnoitra. "Are you curious or frightened?"

If it was possible Nnoitra's eyes narrowed even farther into thin slits. "What?" He hissed. "Don't worry." My Lord assured him. "The girl was in Lord Aizen's power before she ever got here." Ulquiorra walked under the idiot Espada's arm and continued down the hall.

Nnoitra watched him over his shoulder. "He used Kyôka-Suigetsu?" "Please. There was no need." Ulquiorra informed him. "When we invited her here we put her in a multi-layered psychic cage. I told her that her friends would die if she resisted in any way. Then I gave her a twelve hour furlough. I allowed her to say a silent and invisible goodbye to just one of her friends."

"That was your cage?" Nnoitra scoffed. I stepped forward angrily. Nobody mocked Lord Ulquiorra.

"By giving her a reprieve when she was in a state of terror and letting her bid farewell to a friend I led her to falsely believe that we were sympathetic to her. That weakened her will." Ulquiorra continued to explain to her. "In fact, the furlough was a deception, a way to confuse her faculties. By allowing her to choose who she would say goodbye to we created the illusion that she was acting of her own volition rather than being abducted. And by allowing her to return to the rendezvous of her own recognizance before bringing her here that illusion was deeply ingrained in her psyche. Her will to escape was destroyed." Ulquiorra finished with a deep breath.

Nnoitra looked at him, and slightly peeved expression on his face. "And when she said her secret goodbye a faint trace of her departure was left with one of her friends."

"So what?" Nnoitra growled. "Wasn't that a mistake?"

"Quite the opposite. That vestige of her departure proves that she had freedom of movement and thought until the moment of her surrender. In other words because of that trace her actions appear to her friends to be a voluntary betrayal."

Nnoitra's eyes widened as he finally began to understand. He wasn't the only one. My back became erect as I stared at the exchange in front of me. What Lord Ulquiorra had done….it was brilliant. He was even smarter than I had previously thought. He was a genius among common minds.

"I don't know if it was a complete success. But it's safe to say that the Soul Society has abandoned her." Ulquiorra told him.

"Such painstaking planning. Lord Aizen is a genius." Nnoitra smiled. I shook my head. Lord Aizen may have suggested the plan but I continued to believe that Ulquiorra was the real mastermind.

"Painstaking?" My Lord questioned. "To Lord Aizen it was just a game. If it worked, fine. If it didn't, so be it. Nonetheless right now, the girl, hasn't got the will to even attempt an escape. Or even to resent us."

Ulquiorra nodded his head and left Nnoitra behind, scratching his head as he attempted to understand everything he had just been told. As Lord Ulquiorra passed me his rested his hand on my shoulder. Warmth spread through my shoulder, into my chest, and continued down into the rest of my body. I followed after him as soon as I had recovered from the flood of emotion running through me.

"We have a lot to do." Ulquiorra told me as we traversed the curving hallways. "Yes sir." I nodded. "You heard all of that didn't you?" He questioned. "Yes sir." I repeated.

"Good. You needed to hear it. Now you understand the situation even fuller." Ulquiorra enlightened me. He stopped and looked at me. "They have no chance. Orihime has lost all of her resolve. Ichigo and his comrades have no strength to defeat us. We have won this war already."


End file.
